Diocese of Brussels and Belgium

The Russian Orthodox Archbishopric of Brussels and Belgium has grown out of the oldest orthodox Christian church in Belgium, the church of Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, which was created in 1862 under the auspices of the Russian Imperial Mission to Brussels. On 1 August 1876 the church was installed in a house at 29 rue des Chevaliers, in the municipality of Ixelles, where it remains today. Following the 1917 revolution, the Russian emigration in Belgium founded a number of other parishes across the country.

With the installation in 1929 of Bishop Alexander Nemolovksy (1886-1960) as the first orthodox bishop in Belgium, the church of St Nicholas became a cathedral church and Brussels an orthodox episcopal seat. The Belgian state confirmed this by granting the diocese the status of a ‘public utility establishment’ and to its superior the title of ‘Russian Orthodox Archbishop of Brussels and Belgium’.

Archbp. Alexander’s successor was succeeded by the great theologian Archbishop Basil Krivoshein (1900-1985).

The current archbishop is Archbishop Simon Ichounine, who was consecrated bishop on 11 April 1987.

At the present time, the Russian Orthodox Archbishopric of Brussels and Belgium has 14 parishes (two of them monasteries) across Belgium. Celebrations take place in Slavonic (old Russian), French or Dutch, depending on the community.

The Orthodox Church was officially recognized by the Belgian state in 1985.